Pokemon Gen 9 Wishlist

With the mediocre experience of sword and shield wiped out of my brain with the brilliant diamond and shining pearl remakes. It seems like Gen 9 is on the Horizon after legends in 2022.

Until then I thought it would be great to make a wish list for this new region we could be exploring in the future. As a fan and consumer since the red and blue game boy days I feel I have a certain veteran expertise when it comes to knowing what a good Pokémon game should have. So here you have it. My Pokémon wish list for the inevitable Gen 9 games.

1.) NO MORE EXP SHARE FOR ENTIRE PARTY

I really hope someone at Nintendo or the Pokémon company is reading this. Exp share for the whole party is a bad idea! For a brand that talks about forging special bonds with all creatures you catch I find it very backwards that for back-to-back games were getting our hands held with exp share right off the bat from when we start. Having my first pidgey I ever caught evolve into a pidgeot was extra special in red and blue because of all the hard-fought battles it fought to get there!

2.) PUT MORE THAN 1 REGION IN THE GAME

Another thing that fans always ask for in every game since the original gold and silver is a 2-region game. It not only rewards players in more content. It rewards players in more Pokémon to catch, and teams to build. A revisit to the Galar region with the protagonist as the champion would be nice (It needs to be redeemed. More on that later). Plus because of the success of Pokémon Go and the resurgence of the card games popularity sword and shield was a lot of new fans introduction and reintroduction to how a Pokémon game could be. Why not bring back something familiar to the fans.

3.) No More Fire/Fighting dual type starters.

This one I'll admit coming from me is a little bit biased because even though I'm personally tired of the fire/fighting starter combo. I'll never be tired of grass/poison (I'll always pick Bulbasaur every time because it just makes sense. That's a different post for a different time though). I don't know why this seems to be the go-to combo of types when Pokémon has to introduce a new game. Don't get me wrong blaziken, infernape and emboar are all pretty cool Pokemon. The guys over there just seem to be working with the same formula when it comes to their fore starters. Even though cinderace and incineroar aren't fire/fighting types their design still looks like it. That's why I have an appreciation of typhlosion and the fire/ghost type design of delphox. They both look badass but not in a fighting type way. In a beast and mage way. Fire types can be strong in more ways than one. Make a water/fighting dual type Pokémon! Poliwrath could sure use the company.

4.) New Eeveelutions

Another one fans always wonder if the Pokémon company will put in is new Eeveeolution's. When umbreon and espeon were introduced, fans went crazy and new favs of Eevee's evolutionary branches were picked (umbreon is still my all-time favorite.) sylveon, glaceon, leafeon all have been comfortable being part of the Eevee family. How would a steel or ghost type Eeveelution shake up the world of Pokémon?

5.) Make all trainers A.I. better/Gym leaders call for rematch

This one is a two-part wish but for a good reason. A great thing I can say about sword and shield was the rival in the game had a great A.I. It was awesome seeing Hop not scared to switch Pokémon showing a will to win. It matched the dialogue the player was reading while playing the game. The only issue I had with this was the game always healing your party at every encounter with your rival. Imagine an A.I. like this behind every major trainer in the gen 9 game. It could make for some pretty memorable battles.

Other than catching the Pokémon the other highlight to a great Pokémon game are the battles. Now imagine the competitive A.I. with this new Pokémon game bringing back the trainers calling for a rematch! Being the champion and replaying the game to fill out your pokedex is fun and all but add in trainers calling for a rematch would be epic! I still remember filling out my pokedex and catching what I didn't catch in the safari zone and you get a call Blaine wants a rematch. I accepted and saw the gym leader has got a better team with higher level Pokémon If Pokémon wants a video game world that's not only immersive but lively adding the trainers within the game leveling up just like you seem to be a no brainer.

Conclusion

It doesn't take too much to make a great Pokémon game. The main thing we always want is to catch these creatures all over a fictional worlds land. But what makes these games worth talking about though is the world that surrounds it. When you say the words Kanto, Johto or any other region name to a fan they're brought memories of that world and events that happened in those lands. That's what I felt my time in the Galar region lacked. It looked great on screen but the shared exp in battles, and healing at convenient times allowed us to breeze through with with little to no difficulty making us not appreciate the world and lore around it. Making it out of that cave of Zuba's and seeing Cerulean city was extra special when you ran out of potions and repels. Stories like the creation trio of Sinnoh made us hyped for the next generation. With breath of the wild showing the capabilities of the nintendo switch, Pokemon fans are salivating over a world they can roam in that's in a similar caliber. Sword and shield gets an A + for the aesthetics but an F for playing it safe. Other franchises like Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda all turned the dial up to match what the switch could do. Metroid has fans calling for dread to be game of the year and are still anticipating release of "the Detox" of video games ( a Dr. Dre. Album that never released.) Metroid Prime 4. Pokémon is more than capable of leaving a similar mark on the switch. Not this half assed first attempt they did with sword and shield. I remember seeing the original diamond and pearl thinking I'm missing out by not having a ds. I played platinum later and I was right! Sword and shield lacked that. With Pokémon Legends: Arceus visually it looks like by the time gen 9 will be out it should take that full step up on the switches hardware but I thought the same visually with sword and shield. Let's hope Pokémon blesses us fans that supported this company for 25 years with a game that will be remembered for generations to come. The card game had a renaissance in popularity recently. I hope as a fan of the video games that would fire up the developers to make a truly timeless game for the current gen console. Fans of the Pokémon franchise overall deserve that. If a world where Metroid dread and the inevitable Metroid prime 4 will coexist. A Pokémon game that turns its franchises dial of epicness fully can stand with the epicness that is shining pearl and brilliant diamond.